The health crisis severely impacted the global cosmetics market
According to
an article published by McKinsey and Company, the global cosmetics
market produces $500 billion sales in a year, which is multinational
companies should maintain the stability of their sales. However, in 2020, the health
crisis impacted almost every market in the world. In particular, sales were
weak in the global cosmetics market, including the sale of skincare, make-up,
haircare and hair coloring products.
When lockdown
was announced in different countries around March in 2020, the sales of
cosmetic products began to drop. For instance, according to an article
published by “Perfumer and Flavorist", the sale
of beauty products went down by 25% in France. The sale of cosmetic products
decreased due to lockdown and face masks. In fact, as stated by McKinsey
and Company, 30% of the cosmetic industry stopped to operate. During
lockdown, people couldn’t travel, eat out or meet new people so they didn’t
feel the need to buy new cosmetics products, especially make-up products.
Since
everyone was in lockdown and most women worked at home, they didn’t need to
wear or buy make-up. According to McKinsey and Company, the sales of
make-up in the US decreased by -36%. Even worse, the sales of make-up decreased
by -48% in the UK. Further, the face mask was also another reason of the drop
in sales of make-up, especially lipstick.
In the words
of “ETimes”, lipstick used to be one of the biggest-selling make-up
items for women. During the health crisis, women stopped buying lipstick
because face masks would hide it or ruin it. In fact, as stated by “The
Guardian”, the sale of lipsticks dropped by 70% in 2020 in the UK.
However,
during this crisis other products boosted sales in the cosmetics market, for
example the sale of eye make-up, hair coloring products and skin
products. During lockdown, many people lost confidence in themselves and they
bought skincare products or dyed their hair to feel better. As reported by “The
Guardian”, in 2020, the sale of these products increased by 234% in the UK.
The sale of
eye make-up skyrocketed: due to face masks, women emphasize their
make-up on the eyes (mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow), because it is the only
visible part of the face. In fact, in India eyeshadow has rebounded into the
Top 3 in the make-up category, instead of the Top 5.
These
products helped the global cosmetics market to raise its turnover and maintain
a good stability during the crisis.
Despite the difficulties, multinational companies had
different strategies to adapt to this challenging situation. Firstly, when
lockdown was implemented and all the unnecessary stores had to close, companies
had to create an online web site and develop it.
As indicated by “Cosmetics business”, companies
had to spotlight their digital platform to raise their sales. In fact,
in 2020 37.2% of customers bought cosmetics products online. For instance, the
multinational company MAC created a virtual platform where consumers could try
on make-up to see how it looks without going to the store.
So, companies
encouraged their consumers to purchase online by showing them that it can be an
easy and pleasant way as well.
In
order to raise their sales, companies started to sell hand sanitizer gel
and face masks with the brand’s logo during the crisis. These products helped
them to increase their sales and to catch the customers’ attention.
Further,
this health crisis strengthened the online communication between the
company and the customers, focusing on the customers’ needs and on the quality
of the product that the company sends to its customers.
This health
crisis had a negative impact on the cosmetics market; however, this crisis made
the companies work on new strategies to keep up its sales. The
companies’ adaptation to this crisis has been successful, strengthening the
relationship between the customer and the company, and highlighting new easy
ways to sell products, for example digital platforms.
We can wonder whether these new strategies will last after the end of COVID crisis or if everything will be the same as before.
ESSALHI
Iman
Sources :
Ø https://www.statista.com/topics/1008/cosmetics-industry/#dossierKeyfigures
Ø https://content.rwbaird.com/RWB/sectors/PDF/consumer/Impact-of-Covid-19-on-Beauty-Wellness.pdf
Ø https://www.perfumerflavorist.com/news/news/21874383/how-covid-19-impacted-the-french-cosmetics-sector
Ø https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/18/how-covid-19-upended-the-lipstick-index-pandemic-cosmetic-sales-makeup-skincare
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Such a detailed article ! It is incredible how a mere health crisis deeply impacted on a whole business strategy ! Can you give a relevant example of company which genuinely knew how to benefit from this pandemic and how ? Thank you in advance for your answer ! :) Imane.M
ReplyDeleteHello Imane ! Thank you for your comment! Aveda is an American cosmetics company that during lockdown created videos on Instagram in order to give tips on hair and skin care. Thanks to this online trend, Aveda gained 200% of views!
ReplyDeleteESSALHI Iman